RAMAPHOSA SWORN IN FOR SECOND TERM AS SOUTH AFRICA’S PRESIDENT
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On Wednesday, Cyril Ramaphosa, the president of South Africa, took the oath of office for a second term in full in Pretoria, following the ANC’s collapsed agreement to form a government coalition.
At the Union Buildings, the seat of government, Chief Justice Raymond Zondo presided over Ramaphosa’s oath of office ceremony in front of legislators, foreign dignitaries, religious and traditional leaders, and enthusiastic supporters.
“In the presence of everyone assembled here, and in full realisation of the high calling I assume as President… I Matamela Cyril Ramaphosa swear that I will be faithful to the Republic of South Africa,” Ramaphosa said.
Following an undecided general election on May 29, lawmakers decisively chose to re-elect the 71-year-old last week.
Several heads of state attended the inauguration, including King Mswati III of Eswatini, Joao Lourenco of Angola, Denis Sassou Nguesso of Congo Brazzaville, and President Bola Ahmed Tinubu of Nigeria.
A strong police presence marked the arrival of guests early in the morning, many dressed in suits, ball gowns, and coats to stay warm in the freezing winter weather.
Inside the majestic sandstone government building, a small amphitheater was opened to VIPs, some of whom were singing songs about the anti-apartheid struggle.
Other attendees, some holding South African flags, sat on a lawn outside as dancers and musicians performed on a big stage.
After Ramaphosa took the oath, a band played the national anthem, followed by a 21-gun salute and a fly past by army helicopters towing large South African flags.
It was the third time Ramaphosa took the oath.
The former trade unionist turned millionaire businessman first came to power in 2018, after his predecessor and rival Jacob Zuma was forced out before the end of his term under the cloud of corruption allegations.
Ramaphosa was then re-appointed for a full five-year term in 2019. In South Africa, voters elect the parliament which then votes for the president.
Ramaphosa promised a new dawn for South Africa, launched an anti-graft drive and started to reform a collapsing energy system.
But under his watch, the economy languished, blighted by power cuts, crime remained rife and unemployment increased to 32.9 percent.
In May, he led the ANC into yet another vote, but the historied party of the late Nelson Mandela came out bruised.
It won only 40 percent — down from 57.5 percent five years earlier.
For the first time since the advent of democracy in 1994, it lost its absolute majority in parliament and was left scrambling to find coalition partners to remain in power.
It has since agreed to form what it calls a national unity government with several other parties.
They include the centre-right Democratic Alliance (DA), the Zulu nationalist Inkatha Freedom Party, the anti-immigration Patriotic Alliance and the small centre-left GOOD party.
The deal allowed Ramaphosa to comfortably see off a last-minute challenge by firebrand leftist politician Julius Malema, with 283 lawmakers in the 400-seat National Assembly voting to put him back in office.
But it has faced a vociferous opposition from the left, with Malema’s Economic Freedom Fighters and former president Zuma’s uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) refusing to take part and denouncing the inclusion of right-wing parties and the white-led, free-market DA.
MK came third in the election but has contested the results.
Party spokesman Nhlamulo Ndhlela said in a statement that its lawmakers would snub the “farcical inauguration of Cyril Ramaphosa as the puppet DA-sponsored President”, also using a racial slur to describe the ANC leader.
Ramaphosa is expected to announce his cabinet within days of his inauguration, as talks with coalition members continue.
AFP
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